


Keeping Your Strength Up

by GretchenSinister



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 11:51:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18093770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GretchenSinister/pseuds/GretchenSinister
Summary: Original Prompt: "Am I the only one that was slightly horrified by the scene where Jack makes Jamie slide through OPEN TRAFFIC and UNDER MOVING CARS? What would have happened if Jack had being distracted for a moment, or the ice pushed Jamie on the wrong direction?I’ve seen a lot of people here pointing out the “fear is necessary” logic that the movie’s end seriously lacks. However, the movie itself shows what happens when one takes the concept of fun, for example, to great extremes with that sequence; the thing that makes the scene charming is simply that there is no consequences beyond a broken tooth. I want to see those bigger consequences, because things DO go wrong sometimes.This doesn’t only apply to Jack, btw. Obssesive wonder can make a child in search of treasure and adventure to get lost in the woods all night. If one relies too much on hoping that something would happen instead of making it happen, chances are that they’ll be unhappy or even crushed when reality doesn’t meet their expectations. That kind of stuff...[cut for length]"A vignette with Sandy and Jack regarding some possibilities of the Guardians’ powers and what kind of strength Guardians need to have.





	Keeping Your Strength Up

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on 9/3/2014.

Jack rocketed through the sky with a whoop. Even though the weather was getting warmer, he was still gaining believers exponentially, and he’d never felt more alive, more awake. In fact, he hadn’t slept for weeks, something he remembered with a jolt when he saw Sandy’s cloud floating off in the distance. Sure, he may have been feeling more powerful than ever before, but he didn’t seek out his friend only for sleep, did he? He changed the path of his flight and, a gust or two later, was sitting cross-legged on the dreamsand cloud.  
  
Sandy smiled at him in greeting, unruffled by his sudden appearance, and looked him over carefully, not with a smile, but with an expression that seemed far too thoughtful to Jack.  
  
“C'mon, Sandy,” he said. “There’s no need to look at me like I’m a stranger just because I haven’t visited in a while.”  
  
 _Not that,_  Sandy signed, noting to Jack the glitter in his eyes, the barely contained vibration of each limb, the taut lines of his back and neck even as he sat on the cloud of dreamsand.  
  
“I can’t help it!” Jack grinned. “It’s all my new believers. I’ve got energy like I’ve never had before. And I know you’re going to tell me to sleep, but–”  
  
Sandy shook his head vehemently.  _Never if you don’t want to._  
  
“That’s a big thing for you, huh?” Jack brought his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them.  
  
Sandy nodded, adding no new symbols for a time. Dreamsand flowed from his hands in gentle streams, floating through the night much more softly than the last snow Jack remembered making.  
  
 _Just be careful._  Sandy finally signed.  
  
“Okay, so we both agree that no one’s going to miss the bus because they slept in or that they were busy playing, yeah?”  
  
Sandy shook his head and placed his hand on Jack’s arm.  _More than that._  He showed Jack the image of a child, running and playing and never sleeping as the sun and moon passed overhead.  
  
“I wouldn’t do anything like that,” Jack said, but Sandy directed his attention to the image again.  
  
The child began to move slower and slower, and Sandy finally showed them in their bed, closing their eyes and opening them again immediately, looking unhappy. A tiny Sandy floated into the image, surrounding the child in a shell of dreamsand. When the shell dissolved at dawn, the child slept on. The sun and moon whirled by, almost too fast to see, and Jack could see the little figure grow larger–still asleep.  
  
Finally, the whole vision dissolved into hundreds of blinding points of light.  _They had good dreams,_  Sandy signed.  _Couldn’t wake them up. Not what I do._  
  
“What about the other Guardians? Were you afraid to tell them?”  
  
Sandy shook his head.  _Our work is always complimentary. When one of us goes too far, the others can’t undo it either. Sometimes a lot of power is hard to control._  
  
“Why tell me now? Why not tell me earlier? I can tell, I could have–”  
  
Sandy reached up to touch the corners of his eyes.  _You weren’t powerful enough before to believe you could hurt anyone. Now you can believe._  
  
“Would you have looked for me to tell me this?” Jack asked.  
  
Sandy nodded.  _But you came here instead._  He smiled a little.  _Things tend to work out for you when you’ve had a lot of practice._    
  
“Maybe I ought to get some rest after all,” he said, rubbing dreamsand into his eyes.  
  
 _Need to keep your strength up,_  Sandy agreed.  
  
Jack nodded, and nodded off. “It’s just that I thought I was,” he said through a yawn. “Guess it’s not that simple.”  
  
What Sandy had to say about that, he didn’t see.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments from Tumblr:
> 
> bowlingforgerbils said: I like this a lot, Sandy imparting some wisdom on Jack.


End file.
